Of Pirates and Other Galactic Scum
by Complicated Slave
Summary: My first attempt at action and adventure. Includes the Alliance, the Empire, space pirates, bounty hunters, gangsters, and every other kind of scum you can think of.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Star Wars. Any character who's name you DON'T recognize is probably mine. Any others aren't mine, though I wish they were.   
  
**Author's Note**:This is my first attempt at writing a long story. I have never written adventure OR action before, so please bare with me. I would love reviews. The more help I get with this, the better. Also, I'm not very used to including rebels in my stories, so if they seem a bit out of character, please please let me know!  
  


**Prologue**

  
  
Captain Tien Ronde of the _Sleeping Sabre_ was fairly small in the Rebel's chain of command. Once a small time bounty hunter, he gave up his career as a head-hunter after the Empire had stripped him of all his possessions, including his wife Tianna Ronde. After that mournful incident, Tien had devoted his life to fighting the Empire, and so naturally joining the Rebels would only help him on his way to revenge. He was a rather humorous man, with a tall forehead and beady black eyes. He had no hair, save for a small patch at the back of his skull. His smile, however, was quite charming, and every woman aboard the Sabre was sure to follow him with a stare. Despite his rather shady past, Captain Ronde enjoyed humour; it was his way of rebelling against his ugly past. Quite often, during a mission or simulation, the Captain would add in a bit of a joke to his orders, just to lighten up the crew's mood. It was during one of these missions that the _Sleeping Sabre_ had the unfortunate meeting with the _Red Fang_ and her notorious armada, the _Incurable Defect_

-----

  
  
"Captain! Red Alert! Pirates!" A small man screamed out, dashing from his tracking monitors.   
"What? Pirates? How big is there fleet?" Captain Ronde asked, sounding a bit surprised by the attack.  
"We're unsure sir, but we're still scanning their fleet. So far we have no more information."   
"What about our position? Surely we aren't near any of their territory. We came out of hyperspace just above Tattooine, correct?"  
"Negative Sir. Our scanners show we're about 4 hours away from any civilised system. We must have been pulled out of hyperspace early."   
"Any more information on their fleet yet?"  
"Yes Sir. Their fleet seems to be fairly small, ranging from about 10 to 15 vessels. They go by the name of _Incurable Defect._ It appears that they are quite well known in this area."  
"So it would seem. I want you to find us new jump co-ordinates as soon as possible. But just to be safe, everybody to your stations and prepare for attack. Do not let those pirates come close to any part of our ship, we're low on resources as it is."  
The _Sleeping Sabre_ at this point was well on her way to chaos. With everybody in such a frenzy to find their correct placement, it was no surprise that one of the smaller pirate ships had made its way to the underbelly of the _Sabre_. As the flagship of the _Incurable Defect_, the _Red Fang_ was very long and slender, and stocked full of some of the most advanced weapons available on the black market. However, the use of these weapons was not her biggest threat. Hidden beneath her two main cannons, were two long slender poles, used for prying open any sealed cargo holds. Once attached, these two poles would contract, bringing the _Red Fang_ upon her prey.   
"Captain! The jump to hyperspace is impossible! We'll never make it!" Panic, it would seem, was heard in the man's voice.  
"What's the status." The Alliance Captain seemed to very calm in most situations like this. After all, to panic would be to doom every last one of the crew members to death, or worse.  
"The flag ship of the pirate fleet has made its way to the underbelly of the _Sabre_. It's trying to make physical contact." This time, the man was trying to calm down.  
"How many available fighters do we have?"  
"About ten sir."  
"All right, I want all pilots to their fighters now. We will not let these scumbags take all our resources."  
"Yes Sir."   
  


-----

  
  
For many generations space pirates have been viewed as vulgar, irresponsible, and greedier than even the great Sith Lords themselves. No matter what the cost, some pirates will go as far as raiding some of the most heavily defended vessels that have the unfortunate fate of treading into pirate territory. With fleets that match even that of a small Imperial Armada, they pillage and plunder all that come across their poisonous path. One such viscous fleet had been given the name _Incurable Defect_. Its flagship was widely know as the _Red Fang_, and was feared by all that were familiar with its territory. She was captained by a fierce man that quite often went by the name of Captain Trey'nich among his enemies. Although most people that were familiar with the Captain just called him Big Niche.   
Big Niche was feared throughout all of his territory. His piercing red eyes would bore into any man's soul without the slightest hint of mercy. A single, toothy grin would frighten even the bravest of Imperial commanders. His skill with a blaster - now that was something to be terrified of. Unmatched in his skill, any man that faced off with him was sure to be left with a smoking hole bored right into the base of his skull, for that was Big Niche's trademark kill.   
Big Niche, like all good pirates, had a first mate that went by the name of Trinuz. Trinuz was a species similar to that of the Gand, and as such he was stuck wearing breathing tubes to supply him with Ammonia gas.  
  
"Hey Ari, guess who gets to board these poor suckers." The son of Trinuz spoke to his best friend, a young human woman by the name of Ari Dane.   
"Are you trying to tell me Triz that we finally get a chance to show off our shooting skills?" Ari asked, not quite surprised by the new opportunity that placed itself infront of her. She shook her long black braids and laughed. "You're always surprised at the small things. What about having our own ship to command, wouldn't that be something?"  
"Yeah right, as if we're going to command anything for awhile. Not after you 'accidentally' destroyed your father's old fighter."  
"That doesn't count! I was being chased by Imperial Tie Fighters! It was either crash and hide, or crash and die by the hands of an Imp."  
"Aye, but you could have made it seem like an accident!"   
"Nay, I'm not that good of a pilot!"  
"Would you two stop fighting and make your way to the bridge? We've got specific orders for you two!" Trinuz spoke down at the argumentative couple.   
"Oooo, special orders huh?" Ari was now beginning to let the excitement bubble up inside her. Special orders meant an opportunity. An opportunity meant advancement. The times were about to change.  
After making their way to the bridge, Triz and Ari sat down next to Big Niche and Trinuz.   
"What are our orders sir?" Asked Ari, with just a hint of curiosity in her voice.  
"I want you and Triz to take out their commander. I don't want you to just injure him, I want you to kill him." A single grin made its way to the Captain's mouth.  
Ari dropped her jaw in awe. "You want us to kill their Captain? I thought that's what you always did."   
"Consider it a test. You and Triz are always boasting how good you are with a blaster. This is your chance to prove it. If you fail, then consider it your fate to become a simple serving made for the rest of the crew. And as for Triz, if you fail, you'll find yourself cooking up our meals for Ari to serve."  
'Uh sir, don't you think that's a bit much?" Trinuz spoke this time, expressing his concern for his only son.   
"Nay. I think with this much motivation they can do anything." There was that grin again. "Now, enough talk and off with you two. I want you to board the ship after the front squad has cleared the path of opponents. Once inside, the rebel commander will be aboard the bridge. I've left a map of the rebel ship in your databank, as well as the profile of the commander, so be sure to check it when you get lost."  
"Aye sir. C'mon Triz, let's go get ready!"  
  


-----

  
  
"The main cargo hold has been breached! Captain, we must do something!"   
Captain Ronde looked outside the viewport and sighed, ignoring the flashing red sirens that were ringing inside his ears. "All men grab your weapons. I want the fighters to focus on destroying that flagship. We're going to show these pirates they messed with the wrong freighter."   
  
Tien Ronde made his way down to the inner holds where the resources were being stored. If anything, these precious resources were worth more than anything else on board. The Alliance couldn't afford to lose any bit of resources, they were limited as it is. He hid behind one of the major blast doors with a small group of men watching his back. Minutes ticked by, and still nobody had tried to blast open the hold.   
"Where are they?" Tien whispered to himself, straining to hear anything that might suggest the pirates were near. And suddenly, there it was, the faint, random hums of blaster bolts being shot. The pirates had made it through the outer holds and were on their way.   
Tien signalled his men to come forward. He wanted to make sure those pirates felt surprised when they opened the inner cargo hold.  
  


-----

  
  
"Triz you idiot! Don't put a bomb next to the blast door, who knows what kind of goods are in there! If you destroy something valuable Big Niche will have your head!" Ari paused for a moment. "And so will your dad!"   
"Yeah, but you said this was one of the ways to get to the bridge, right? They won't be expecting us to blow it up." Triz wasn't normally one for tactics. But this time, something told Ari she should let him follow his plan.   
"Alright, but if you end up kicked out of the fleet, don't come crying to me!"   
"Yeah yeah, just find some cover and look away, you don't want to end up blind."  
Ari grunted. "Sure, never mind the fact that I was put in charge of this raid."   
Sure enough, seconds later the bomb blew. Ari and Triz grinned in satisfaction as they heard the muffled screams of the rebel troopers flying back into the hold.   
"Nice! Triz you surprise me sometimes." Ari gave her Gand friend a pat on the back and walked past him through the dusty debris. The rebels were starting to get up from the blast, and so she motioned a few of her comrades into the hold.   
"Well isn't this a surprise. Triz, that rebel commander seems to be right here, scrabbling at our feet."  
Triz grinned. "That was easier than I thought. Who would have guessed they would have been stupid enough to fall for my trick." He laughed a laugh so cold, that if Ari had not known him so well she would have guessed he was an Imperial in disguise. To her anguish, however, that laugh was no more than the rasping of Triz trying to breathe. Captain Tien Ronde of the rebel freighter the _Sleeping Sabre_ had grabbed hold of Triz's breathing apparatus in his scramble to his feet, and was now suffocating Ari's only friend.   
"You scum! Leave him alone!" Ari's only cry before the muffled sound of a blaster was heard, and the body of her partner fell limp to the ground. Ari looked up, and met face to face the rebel commander.  
"Captain Tien Ronde, correct?" Ari asked, softer than the captain could ever have imagined.  
"Correct miss. And who are you?" All sounds of gunfire and death seemed to be drowned out by the rebel captain's calm voice. He was breathing hard.   
"Ari.. Ari Dane." She eyed the captain. "You killed my best friend. Consider me your new nightmare."  
"Begging your pardon Miss Dane, but you have a lot to learn about nightmares." Tien whispered, being sure to keep eye contact on Ari. "I'm really sorry about the pain I caused you. For that, I'll be sure not to kill you."  
Rage made its way to Ari's surface. Never before had somebody made the mistake of saying something so challenging. "That was the wrong thing to say" She grunted, swinging her blaster infront of her. Ari gasped before she could shoot. Searing through her left shoulder, missing any vital organs, was a blaster bolt.   
"Curse you" was all that was said before she fell the floor, knocked out by the intense pain.  



	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**  
  
**Five years later**  
  


Dengar made his way through the crowded streets of Coruscant's lower levels. He was looking for a very specific cantina known as the _Grudge's Gateway_. Used mostly by lowlifes, the cantina was probably one of the worst this side of the planet. Dengar, sneaking his way over to one of the less crowded alley ways, was trying to keep a low profile. All weapons were hidden, except for a small hand blaster at his side. The alley was unusually dark for such a bright and busy city, except for a dimly lit sign resting above the backdoor of a small highrise. Dengar made his way towards the door, being careful not to step on anything.. unidentifiable. Sure enough, above his head the letters vaguely made out the words 'Grudge' and 'Gateway.' With a cautious step, Dengar made his way inside the door. The dimly lit hallway was completey deserted, with not a single object or person in sight. Dengar could hear the sounds of rowdiness coming from somewhere inside the structure, and the stench of a multi-racial cantina nearly made him sick.  
Dengar had been given the information that an old 'business partner' of his was wanting to meet him here. Apparently, his old 'business partner' had some urgent news that could possibly prove useful to the retired bounty hunter. Maybe it was an old contract beind restored, or news of some smalltime merchandise in the area. Whatever the information, Dengar would be sure to receive it.   
Dengar made his way to the main room. The rowdiness proved to be more than what it sounded like. In every corner of the room there was some sort of fist fight going on. Nobody had pulled any guns yet, but give them time and Dengar was sure something nasty would happen. Ignoring the racket, he made his way to an empty booth in the far wall. Dengar, after ordering himself some well known ale, began to look around for his 'coworker'.   
"Looking for something?" an raspy voice asked. Dengar looked up, only to find himself face to face with the ugliest Trandoshan he had ever seen.  
"None of your business." Replied Dengar, ignoring the lear the lizard was giving him.  
"Oh I think it might be. Seems you were supposed to be out of the trade months ago. Isn't that right, Dengar?"  
Dengar lifted his blaster level with the table-top, just high enough for the bounty hunter to see. "As I said before, it's none of your business Bossk."   
With a snarl, Bossk turned to leave. "Just remember, if you get in my way I'll crush your bones." Laughing quietly and to himself, Dengar went back to searching.  
"Well, he was friendly wasn't he?" a voice suddenly broke his concentration. Startled, Dengar looked up to see a tall scraggly human with short black hair and a long beard.   
"Yeah. Who are you?" Dengar asked, not bothering to put his gun away.  
"Perhaps you don't remember me. I used to give you small amounts of information on the location of some of your merchandise. Friends call me Snit."  
The ugly man sat down, and as Dengar took a small portion of time to remember the name, the man broke in again. "I have a hunt for you, if you're interested."  
"I stopped the business months ago Snit. Why did you really bring me here?"  
"I heard you were in debt, and I thought I might help out."  
Dengar snorted. "In debt? Where did you get that?"  
"I have my resources. But back to business. There's a man named Tien Ronde, he's a former Captain of the rebels. Seems he made the mistake of sleeping with one of a certain gangster's dancing girls."  
"Jabba."  
"Correct. Now he's got a fairly large bounty on his head. Is 75,000 credits enough for you?"  
"Wait a minute. How tough is this guy, and why isn't he with the rebels anymore?" Suspicion crept into Dengar's eyes.   
Something didn't seem right about this former rebel. Kicked out? Since when do they kick out captain's?   
"Well, after failing to keep pirates away from a rebel freighter, he was found smuggling out some of the Alliance's precious resources."  
"Right, and considering they needed that stuff back then I guess they rather lose an ally than lose the whole war."  
"Exactly. Now he's hiding in some remote asteroid field with a bunch of miners. Seems he doesn't want to be found."  
"Who else is working this job?"  
"Not sure. It's private, if that's what you mean." The ugly man grinned.  
"We'll see. If I decide to take the job, you'll know." Dengar got up, holstered his blaster and made his way to the exit, leaving the ugly man alone.  
  
"Manaroo, are you here?" Dengar made his way into his apartment, searching for his new wife, Manaroo. "I've got some good news and some bad news."  
"Oh?" Manaroo appeared in the kitchen doorway, stunning Dengar with her new white dress. It contrasted wonderfully with her saphire skin.  
"What's the occassion?" Dengar smirked, grabbing hold of Manaroo's waist and kissing her on the forehead.  
"Well, I have some wonderful news. I went to the doctor today to ask about those abdominal pains I was having. And guess what!" wow, she was excited.  
"What's that?" a bit of dread in Dengar's voice.  
"I'm pregnant!" she clapped her hands and embraced Dengar in a huge hug. "Isn't that great?"  
"Yeah, just one problem." He didn't seem that enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. "We're out of money. How are we going to afford a baby?"  
"Oh that's no problem. You can just take that job Snit was talking to you about." She grinned.  
Dengar backed up for a moment. "How do you know about that?"   
"Well..."  
A little more forceful this time. "Manaroo how did you find out? You weren't talking to that guy were you? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"  
"Calm down Dengy-poo! I was disguised as a slop in that stupid cantina. I followed you in there, sat down behind you, and listened to the whole thing. Despite how much I hate the idea of you hunting again, I don't think there's a choice."  
She grabbed his hand and led him to the couch where they sat down. She grinned.  
"Although, it would be very exciting!" her eyes were wide with anticipation. "No. You aren't going, not if you're carrying my child. I want you to stay here and hide. Don't answer the door, don't even answer the holocom."  
"But.."  
"No buts, this is serious. If you want me to take the job then you have to stay hidden. If some of the other hunters find I'm back in the business, they're going to want to stop me anyway possible. That includs abducting you!"   
Manaroo could cleary see that she was to stay where she was and not make a sound. "I'll be as quiet as a mouse." She bit out.  
"Good." A sigh of relief escaped Dengar as he got up.  
"I'm going to go gather all my old stuff, including my ship. I'll come back before I go, just to say goodbye."   
  


-----

  
  
Ari Dane was found lying on the floor of her ships cockpit. Blood framed her pale skin and wide, bright green eyes. She grunted. With one slender arm after the other, she crawled into her chair and sat herself upright. Dizziness took over. Ari opened her eyes and glanced at her monitors. She was still above the dispicable Nar Shaddaa, ready to head back to Tattooine with her newly acquired prize. After the incident of Triz's death and the raiding of the _Sleeping Sabre_, Ari devoted herself into killing Tien Ronde. Becoming a bounty hunter seemed like a good career change. Piracy only got her friends killed, after all. It was time to do something with herself. Successful hunt after successful hunt, Ari was saving up her credits for a decent ship and the means to hunt down that evil man Tien Ronde.   
"Oh God.." Ari stretched out her bruised muscels. Below her, in the ship's tiny cargo-hold, was a very rowdy piece of merchandise. He went by the name of Rodri Ranhat, but that's not important.   
After keying in her new jump coordinates, Ari was on her way to that scumbag Tattooine, not that her last location was any better. Ari was used to these kinds of places. Afterall, when you're born into piracy, there's not a whole lot of luxury in your life. A sudden red flashing caught Ari's eye. Somebody had left her a messege during her hunt. Ari hit the play button and the recorded voice of an old friend filled the cockpit.  
"Ari, this is Trinuz. I don't know if you remember who I am, but I was Triz's father, and second in command of the _Red Fang_ I have some information I think you might want. I ran into an old associate of mine, and it turns out that man that killed my son has a bounty on his head. As far as I know it's a private job, but I can hook you up with the right people, and perhaps we can get you the opportunity you've been searching for. In regards, Trinez." The recording ended, and left the entire ship in complete silence.  
"Tien Ronde." Ari bit out, a sly grin crossing her delicate features. "You're all mine." 


End file.
